What's the worst piece of automotive advice you've ever been given?

". ." (xllx)
03/21/2016 at 11:55 • Filed to: None

I guess advice you’ve seen or heard given to somebody else works as well.

DISCUSSION (47)

Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer > . .
03/21/2016 at 12:02

“Leave it stock” :)

Sampsonite24-Earth's Least Likeliest Hero > . .
03/21/2016 at 12:03

“You’re doing your brakes one side at a time, what do you need jackstands for?"

CB > . .
03/21/2016 at 12:04

Anything involving buying old or used tires. Always check the DOTs (or TINs here in Canada) of the tires you’re buying and the wear on them as well. For example, yes those tires that are 60% off look like a great deal, but they’ve also been sitting for five years. And you’re not willing to spend $300 on tires for your daughter’s car? Really?

How people want to cheap out on the thing that keeps them connected to the road, I don’t know.

Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap > . .
03/21/2016 at 12:05

Serious advice or just jokingly saying “don’t forget to top up the blinker fluid”

Urambo Tauro > Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer
03/21/2016 at 12:07

Sometimes that’s good advice.

AM3R shamefully returns > . .
03/21/2016 at 12:07

“My BMW doesn’t need premium, you’re wasting money dude”

It pains me how many times I've heard this.

crowmolly > . .
03/21/2016 at 12:07

You don’t need to burnish brake pads or resurface rotors.

Sure thing buddy. That’s why we can always hear you coming.

interstate366, now In The Industry > . .
03/21/2016 at 12:08

“Why save up for good parts when you can just put eBay parts on?”

HammerheadFistpunch > . .
03/21/2016 at 12:09

“check with oppo first, they should give you some good advice for sticker placement.”

Your boy, BJR > . .
03/21/2016 at 12:10

http://www.apidaonline.com

Die-Trying > . .
03/21/2016 at 12:13

“you should just sell it”

drive-by unsolicited advice i was given by my dad when i found that i had three flat lobes on the camshaft in an old truck i was working on.

Rustholes-Are-Weight-Reduction > . .
03/21/2016 at 12:14

After my engine started shaking yesterday evening at 80.000 km, I would say:
“buy a 1.9 TDI, those are bulletproof”

BorkBorkBjork > . .
03/21/2016 at 12:15

I was in a parking lot with a friend and I had the hood popped on the GTO showing him the supercharger I just had installed. We were talking for a while when a Lance-Armstrong wannabe (you know, with the tight-fitting cycling outfit that screams “Look at my mooseknuckle, everybody!”) came riding by. As he passed, he looked at us and smugly said “That’s why you should’ve bought a bicycle, they never break down!”.

It was simply inconceivable to him that someone would pop the hood on a car for any reason than other to repair. His advice was plain and offensive: Cars are appliances, why spend more money than you have to?

Mustafaluigi > . .
03/21/2016 at 12:16

You don’t need to use synthetic oil on your Audi 2.8.

deekster_caddy > BorkBorkBjork
03/21/2016 at 12:18

phhht. My bicycle broke down plenty of times.

The Crazy Kanuck; RIP Oppositelock > CB
03/21/2016 at 12:21

I bought used snow tires. They had 1 season, 10,000kms on them and plenty of tread left. They where $950 new, go them at $450.,

vicali > . .
03/21/2016 at 12:23

“Don’t mod your winter car” -fellow car enthusiast.

This was Edmonton where summer cars were used mayve 4 months of the year.. I did anyways, and it was awesome.

Matt Nichelson > AM3R shamefully returns
03/21/2016 at 12:23

So much this. It really makes me wonder how many people actually do that.

CB > The Crazy Kanuck; RIP Oppositelock
03/21/2016 at 12:23

See, that’s alright advice. But I actually had a dude ask about where we threw out our tires and if we could sell them to him when I worked retail.

PotbellyJoe and 42 others > BorkBorkBjork
03/21/2016 at 12:25

As a cyclist (and the Lance-armstrong look at me kind apparently) I can tell you that he was an idiot because bikes are mostly reliable, but not nearly as reliable per mile as a car. Even the worst cars for reliability have service cycles further apart, haha.

Conceptually though, his statement is akin to the thoughts of about 95% of people in this world, that the engine hood is meant to be opened when there is a problem, not to look at anything cool.

The Crazy Kanuck; RIP Oppositelock > CB
03/21/2016 at 12:27

Before I threw out my old snow tires I slashed them multiple times so they could not used again in case anyone saw them and said “sweet, free tires“.

PotbellyJoe and 42 others > . .
03/21/2016 at 12:27

“Modern cars have knock sensors, so there’s no need for high test, except for better gas mileage.”

jimz > PotbellyJoe and 42 others
03/21/2016 at 12:28

yeah but the guy he encountered was a capital-c Cyclist. They’re the douches.

jimz > Urambo Tauro
03/21/2016 at 12:29

yep. when I sold my SRT-4 it was on Autotrader for only 7 hrs. The magic words? “No mods, never been modded.”

jimz > Your boy, BJR
03/21/2016 at 12:30

Tavarish’s advice makes a lot more sense when you take it as “here’s a way to have a project or nice second car for not much money.” Not as daily drivers.

PotbellyJoe and 42 others > jimz
03/21/2016 at 12:31

Oh sure, and if it’s not about cycling, it’s something else. They live to lord everything over anyone else.

jimz > . .
03/21/2016 at 12:32

the worst advice is when someone asks you for it, they ignore your advice, screw up, and then it’s somehow still your fault. it’s why I don’t give anyone car buying recommendations.

TheBloody, Oppositelock lives on in our shitposts. > PotbellyJoe and 42 others
03/21/2016 at 12:33

You have more of a moose pinky though...

Future next gen S2000 owner > jimz
03/21/2016 at 12:35

I’ve currently been contemplating this with my latest vehicle. Just got it and I was dead set on leaving it stock due to the crazy resale value but I’ve been thinking all those wonderful thoughts about making it a bit faster, de badging it, may a small lift and some 31s or 33s, a few choice upgrades under the hood.......

I may have a sickness.

BrianGriffin thinks “reliable” is just a state of mind > AM3R shamefully returns
03/21/2016 at 12:36

This needs all the stars.

PotbellyJoe and 42 others > TheBloody, Oppositelock lives on in our shitposts.
03/21/2016 at 12:51

Luck of the Irish.

Bourbon&JellyBeans > . .
03/21/2016 at 12:58

Why buy a [insert sensible newer car] when you can buy this [insert sketchy, gremlin-ridden 15 year old car that has depreciated 85% of its original value]?

Mercedes Streeter > Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer
03/21/2016 at 13:02

Honestly, when I do get a new smart, I think I will keep it like 99% stock. DID I GROW UP OR SOMETHING?!?!?

Mercedes Streeter > jimz
03/21/2016 at 13:06

Until that bargain basement S-Class project car starts costing you 10x the purchase price lol

Yet, that wouldn’t stop me from getting a bargain basement S-Class project, so...

gmctavish needs more space > . .
03/21/2016 at 15:28

“You should get one of those Pontiac Grand Prix turbos, yknow the racing one, they’re faster than imports”

shop-teacher > deekster_caddy
03/21/2016 at 15:32

Seriously, the first money pit I ever owned was a Schwinn mountain bike. So many of my pre-drivers license monies had to be diverted from saving for a car, into keeping that rolling pile of crap moving.

shop-teacher > Mercedes Streeter
03/21/2016 at 15:35

It happens!

shop-teacher > Matt Nichelson
03/21/2016 at 15:35

Most

shop-teacher > Mercedes Streeter
03/21/2016 at 15:53

That’s why you don’t make it your only car. You make it your second car that can sit for some time while you save up money for parts ... or cut your losses and ditch it.

shop-teacher > jimz
03/21/2016 at 15:55

Exactly. They also serve as a benchmark for what you can do if you do your research, and are willing to dig in. I don’t have the time or the stomach to do what Tavarish does, but they definitely helped give me the confidence to dig in on some more extensive repairs than I’ve been willing to tackle before.

jimz > Mercedes Streeter
03/21/2016 at 16:00

probably :) that was my situation; every other SRT-4 I saw on the road was fart-canned and blow-off-valved and huge FMICed to the limit. Plus almost all of them had those goddamned “eyelid” decals.

shop-teacher > . .
03/21/2016 at 16:02

When talking to my dad about my first car, an ‘89 Olds Toronado Troffeo that he made me buy from him. A car that we had already sunk thousands of dollars into to keep the pile of shit running. A car that now needed 600 more dollars put into it. A car that I knew would never be more than a semi-reliable beater. He said, “Let’s just do it, this has gotta be the last thing it needs.”

It wasn’t. Of course it wasn’t.

Mark - Sixpots None The Richer > . .
03/21/2016 at 17:52

Independent TÜV mechanic I paid to check on my car before buying it: “She’s alright! And in a few years she’ll be ready to qualify for an historic vehicle license plate.”

Yeah...

http://oppositelock.kinja.com/my-car-was-tot…

wiffleballtony > . .
03/21/2016 at 18:06

You should get 20 inch wheels.

The Compromiser > HammerheadFistpunch
03/21/2016 at 19:13

It’s always, “ In the butt"...

The Compromiser > The Crazy Kanuck; RIP Oppositelock
03/21/2016 at 19:17

Mine came off a wrecked car. $two fiddy, Cad.Brand New with rims. Still had the whiskers on them. Some people learn the hard way that snow tires do not equal driving like it’s summer.

shop-teacher > Sampsonite24-Earth's Least Likeliest Hero
03/21/2016 at 19:56

A buddy of mine is an auto shop teacher. We used to work at the same school. One day he was using my Sierra to demonstrate to his class how to properly jack up a vehicle with a full frame. Not one second after he put the jack stand under there, the floor jack collapsed ... The giant monster of a floor jack, the kind that’s so big you can’t even lift it up by yourself. It was a massive structural failure too, the whole arm bent sideways, down, and twisted. That was a definite code brown moment, but that was one class who sure as shit paid attention when they were jacking up a car.